


But It's Cold Outside

by startaroux



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blizzards & Snowstorms, Established Relationship, Holidays, M/M, i think it's close enough to winter for me to post this, they're soft but like. in a prickly way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:21:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27463345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startaroux/pseuds/startaroux
Summary: "What the hell are you doing?"Zoro glances back at Sanji who hasn't moved from his spot on the couch, but is shooting a confused — and annoyed — look at him from across the room."Trying to find my boots so I can leave, Cook, what does it look like I'm doing?""Leave? Wh— wait. You mean because of the blizzard? Just stay here with me, idiot," Sanji laughs, shaking his head like what he's suggesting is the simplest solution in the world. And itshouldbe, but..
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Sanji
Comments: 25
Kudos: 160





	But It's Cold Outside

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I wrote for the ZoSan zine that you can find [here](https://twitter.com/ZineZosan/status/1320771046644080642?s=20) and [here](https://zosanseasonszine.tumblr.com/post/633093288998600704) if you want to see the other works in it. I had the Baby It's Cold Outside song stuck in my head the entire time I was writing this, so any similarities are definitely not coincidental lmao

Zoro breathes a deep sigh as he wraps his arms tighter around Sanji's hips and snuggles closer to him, head in the blond's lap. It's snowing heavily outside, but Sanji's so warm and soft and the fingers moving through Zoro's hair feel like heaven scratching at his scalp the way they are.

They're watching some super old holiday movie Sanji loves but Zoro couldn't remember the name of it to save his life. He isn't really paying attention to the movie anyway, and he's already napped through half of it, so it doesn't really matter all that much.

Zoro reaches his hand out to the bowl of caramel corn on the coffee table that Sanji had set out for them earlier but a shrill ringing sound startles him, stopping his movements.

"Looks like an emergency weather report," Sanji says, pausing the movie and grabbing his phone from the table to look at the message. "Huh. Says there's a huge snowstorm about to hit… supposed to be bad."

He tilts his phone toward Zoro so he can get a look, and the words flashing across the screen worry him enough to leave his cozy spot in Sanji's lap and sit back up.

**ALL ARE ADVISED TO SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER AND AVOID TRAVEL**

"Shit."

Zoro stands up and turns on the spot, rushing to search for his boots around Sanji's small apartment.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Zoro glances back at Sanji who hasn't moved from his spot on the couch, but is shooting a confused — and annoyed — look at him from across the room.

"Trying to find my boots so I can leave, Cook, what does it look like I'm doing?"

"Leave? Wh— wait. You mean because of the blizzard? Just stay here with me, idiot," Sanji laughs, shaking his head like what he's suggesting is the simplest solution in the world. And it _should_ be, but...

Zoro makes a doubtful sound in his throat as he spies one boot barely sticking out from behind a house plant. How did that get _there_?

"I really can't stay, Sanji," he says, pulling the boot on and continuing his hunt for its twin.

"But there's a storm, dumbass, you'll get caught in it." Sanji gets up from his seat and marches over to where Zoro stands scratching his head, still unable to locate the other boot.

"It already takes you long enough to get home with your shitty sense of direction," Sanji continues, voice suddenly softening at the next part. "I don't want to risk you ending up getting stuck somewhere dangerous."

Zoro's heart does a small flip in his chest at those considerate words, but he has to ignore it. If he doesn't get home before this storm hits…

The wind starts to pick up outside and he shakes his head.

"I have to go."

Zoro continues searching the apartment for his wayward boot and doesn't see the disappointed, then determined expression that flashes across Sanji's face.

"What can I do to make you stay with me tonight?"

_That_ makes Zoro pause. When has Sanji ever been so direct?

"What do you mean by that?" he asks, wary.

Sanji steps closer to him and takes his hand.

"Listen— _god, your hands are freezing_ ," the blond mutters, pressing the back of Zoro's hand to his lips and then to his cheek to warm it up.

"Listen," Sanji says again. "You've never stayed over here with me before, and I was just thinking that tonight might be the perfect opportunity for it. You know, what with the blizzard and everything."

Zoro swallows the lump forming in his throat. Of _course_ he wants to stay. Hell. He'd love nothing more than to spend the rest of the night alone with the cook, but…

"Come on," Sanji says definitively, most likely having sensed Zoro's further hesitation. The cook pulls him by his hand, walking backwards toward the kitchen. "At least have a cup of coffee with me before you leave. You _have_ been drinking, after all."

Oh, right. The three cups of eggnog he'd had earlier that night. He’d almost forgotten. Zoro stops them both halfway through the entrance to the kitchen then, hands still linked together.

"Wait, how much whiskey was in that, anyway? I don't even feel remotely buzzed."

Sanji lets go of his hand and walks the last few steps to his refrigerator.

"The normal amount, I guess. For you, at least," Sanji says over his shoulder, pulling out a carton of milk and walking back to where Zoro was still standing. "Little over half a bottle."

"Really."

"Really, really," Sanji answers, donning an amused expression then pointing at Zoro with a laugh. "Wait. Ha! You couldn't even tell, could you?"

If Zoro was blushing, he wouldn't admit it. His alcohol tolerance must be so high he can't even _taste_ the stuff anymore when it's paired with a mixer.

"No, I just assumed it wasn't mixed at all because you're such a lightweight," Zoro snaps back for absolutely no reason other than to shift the attention off of himself, stepping forward and attempting to hide his red face in Sanji's shoulder.

Sanji moves away suddenly and pins Zoro with an expression of incredulity, hurt, and confusion. How the man can possibly fit that many emotions into one look is beyond Zoro, but he somehow still manages it.

"Do you really think of me as the type of person who would drink eggnog without whiskey mixed into it?" He shakes his head. "I know you're an idiot sometimes, but come _on_."

Zoro rolls his eyes and pulls Sanji back toward him. He wraps his arms around the cook's front and rests his head on his shoulder again as he goes about setting up the coffee pot.

Maybe he shouldn’t drive home after all if he’s been drinking. That would certainly be the responsible thing to do, and it definitely gives him an excuse to stay the night.

On the other hand, he _does_ feel completely sober. And then there’s the matter of what he’ll have to deal with if his roommates notice he stayed out all night…

Zoro’s train of thought is interrupted as Sanji wiggles out of his hold, turns around and presses a mug into his hand.

“Here. Milk, no sugar, right?"

"Hmm," Zoro hums as he takes a sip and looks directly into his boyfriend's eyes. "Strong and hot. Just how I like 'em."

Sanji's face turns a shade of red Zoro has never seen before in his life and he all but chokes on his own coffee.

“Fuck _off_ ,” he groans, pushing past Zoro and sliding back down onto the couch in a puddle of mortification. “You’re ridiculous.”

Maybe getting caught in a snowstorm _is_ worth seeing Sanji like this, after all.

"Oh? I thought you wanted me to stay though?" Zoro teases, having too much fun pushing at Sanji's buttons. "So what's the truth here?"

He takes a few uneven steps forward and that's when he remembers he still hasn't found his other boot yet. Shit.

Zoro downs the rest of his coffee in a hurry, ignoring how it burns his tongue, and starts a new search for his long lost boot.

It wasn't anywhere near the other one and it isn't under the couch either, so where..?

Zoro feels his shoulders get grabbed and his back pushed gently against the wall before two hands press against it on either side of his head.

He isn't exactly keen on being manhandled at the moment, but any protest dies on his tongue and his heart does that weird flip-flop thing again once he sees a certain _look_ being aimed directly at him.

"Come on, moss head," Sanji murmurs in what he probably thinks is his most enticing voice, lips barely an inch away from Zoro's. "You _do_ want to stay with me, don't you?"

The answer to that question in Zoro's mind is undeniably _yes, god yes_ , and he almost says as much in a moment of weakness, but—

He clenches his jaw to keep from saying anything. There are _reasons_ he can't. Two, to be exact. And they're sitting at his house right fucking now probably wondering why he isn't home yet.

Zoro decides it's best to just not answer the question and thus has nothing better to do than stare at Sanji like a deer caught in the headlights for a moment until the other man sighs and backs away.

"I don't see what the big fucking deal is," Sanji sighs, patting himself down for his cigarettes before remembering he left them over on the coffee table. "You're fighting this so hard and you won't even tell me why."

It's not that he won't though, it's that he _can't_ tell him why. Not without consequences. He's gone and backed himself into quite the predicament here.

Zoro turns back to the kitchen and keeps looking for his lost boot. Maybe he kicked it off at some point and it went flying in there?

He can still feel two eyes boring a hole in the back of his head as he moves around the apartment, making him uncomfortable enough that he gives up and decides to drive home with one shoe on.

"Forget it, I gotta get home." Zoro mumbles, clomping over with unbalanced steps to where his phone still sits on the coffee table, but he’s interrupted before he can grab it.

"Wait, wait, wait." Sanji suddenly mutters, running a hand through his hair and looking almost apologetic. " _Fine_ , dammit, I know where your shoe is."

"What? How?"

The blond says nothing, just walks over and pulls a black left boot out from between two blankets in the hall closet — the one Zoro had been looking for like an ass this whole time.

"Sanji." Zoro closes his eyes and takes a deep, calming breath before he dares to ask, "What was my shoe doing in the closet?"

Sanji gives him that remorseful look again before answering.

"I hid it, okay?" He groans, blush back on his face in full force. "I thought if you couldn't find it, you'd have an excuse to stay the night this time."

Sanji lifts his hand to his forehead and starts rubbing circles in his temple like he has a headache.

"It would've been a brilliant plan, too, if I hadn't miscalculated what a dumbass you are," Sanji continues. "Running off into the snow barefoot. How could I live with myself if you caught pneumonia and died?"

Oh, and there goes his traitorous heart again.

"I'll uh- I'll forgive you this time," Zoro says with a cough, fighting down the blush now spreading fast over his _own_ face. Those words wouldn't be much if said by anyone else, but coming from Sanji's mouth, they were downright affectionate. 

The noises outside are much louder now and the two men startle as they hear a tree branch scrape across the window. The blizzard will be here any minute.

“Well. I’ll guess you’ll be going, then,” Sanji mumbles, taking a step closer. He leans in even more into the space between them and Zoro takes the hint, reaching his hand out to run through smooth hair before leaning in himself.

Right at that moment, Zoro’s phone vibrates, loud and obnoxious, and still sitting on the coffee table across the room.

“Really now,” Sanji grumbles, stepping away to check and see who it is. “Who could possibly be calling at this hour?”

Just as Sanji’s picking the phone up, Zoro realizes _exactly_ who it could be, and promptly lunges for his phone, snatching it out of Sanji’s hand at the last second. But it’s still too late.

“What the hell is your problem?” Sanji asks, utterly and rightly confused by Zoro’s suspicious actions. Zoro nearly misses the minute way his eyebrows jump up and his eyes narrow ever so slightly. “It’s Luffy calling. You’d better let him and Usopp know you’re heading home so they can be on the lookout for you, right?”

Zoro freezes at that for a second before stuffing his phone in his pocket and all but power-walking toward the door to make his escape. _Shit_.

“No, you don’t!” Somehow, Sanji manages to beat him there — damn limber bastard — and blocks his only exit. “Answer the phone, Zoro. Or I’ll answer it for you.”

Zoro’s lips are sealed shut into a straight line and he shakes his head — his pitiful last stand of defiance before Sanji shoves a hand into his pocket in an attempt to pull out the still-vibrating phone.

“No!” Zoro yells, for lack of literally anything else to say, and snatches both of Sanji’s wrists up, pinning him to the door behind him.

“Why won’t you answer the phone, Zoro?” Sanji asks with a wicked grin. “I bet your roommates think you're lost in this blizzard, all alone, don’t they? Probably worried, too.”

“That’s because—”

“Because what?” Sanji cuts in, obviously not wanting to hear any excuses. “Tell me right now why your roommates would be calling you if they already knew where you were.”

Zoro sighs and releases Sanji’s wrists, shoving his own hands into his pockets where he can feel his phone has finally stopped ringing. He can’t look Sanji in the eye though, so he glances off to the side before speaking.

“Because they don’t know I’m here.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I still haven’t told them about us.”

“Aha! I knew it!” Sanji exclaims, seemingly happier about being right and catching Zoro in a lie than he is mad about being lied to in the first place. “You’ve been trying _so_ hard to get home because you can’t possibly lie to them about where you really are without getting caught since Usopp’s a walking lie detector. You’re still embarrassed about us!”

The two stare at each other for a second as Sanji catches his breath from that lengthy accusation.

“Look. I was gonna tell them, I just…” Zoro crosses his arms across his chest and looks down. “I mean, you remember the way Luffy and Usopp used to pick on us all the time about secretly liking each other, saying shit like, _‘why don’t you two just kiss already’_ or whatever. They would’ve pestered the hell out of me.”

To Zoro’s surprise, Sanji’s expression changes from sick satisfaction to one of understanding in an instant. He remembers how it was before they got together as well. Sanji sighs and leans back against the door again.

“Yeah. Yeah, I guess I get that,” he concedes. “And you live with them too, so I’m sure the never-ending harassment would’ve been nearly unbearable.”

“See?” Zoro moves closer to wrap his arms around Sanji in a warm hug. “It’s not that I’m embarrassed about us — far from it. It’s just that my roommates are a couple of assholes.”

Sanji chuckles and leans up to plant a kiss on Zoro’s forehead before moving out of the way.

“I guess you’d better get going, then.”

Zoro nods in agreement, but for some reason, his feet won’t move. He looks back at Sanji standing next to the door and, for the hundredth time that night, feels his heart flip in his chest.

"It's getting bad out there," Sanji says to get him moving.

And Zoro isn't entirely sure whether it's the weather, eggnog, the snowstorm raging outside, the warm feelings he has for the man standing in front of him, or some jumbled up combination of all of those things.

Whatever it is, something makes Zoro step forward and slide the deadbolt shut before turning to Sanji and pressing a long-awaited kiss to his lips. It’s so warm.

"Nah, it’s about time those shitheads found out about us, anyway. I think I want to stay here with you," he murmurs, wrapping Sanji up in his arms and feeling him do the same with a squeeze. "Besides, it's cold outside."

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on [tumblr](https://ruskaina.tumblr.com/) if you want to talk or something


End file.
